The correlation between the competence at the university examination of freshman students at Dokuz Eylul University and their physical activity levels during the preperation for the examination

Aim: The World Health Organization describes physical inactivity as one of the most important risk factors that lead to death. The ratio of physical inactivity among 15-18 year olds is quite high despite the fact that literature on the topic suggests it is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Preparing for important examinations such as the university entrance exams is considered as one of the reasons why physical inactivity is so common among the aforementioned age group. This study at hand inquires into the relationship between the YKS grades and the ratio of students' physical activity during the preparation year for YKS. Method: This cross-sectional study has been conducted in September and October of 2019 by surveying a total number of 2060 freshmen vis a vis who enrolled in Faculties of Maritime, Law, Science and Letters, Architecture, Engineering, and Business at the academic year of 2019-2020. The data form used in this study consists of parts that look into the sociodemographic characteristics of students, IPAQ-LF and factors that have an effect on the academic performance. The gathered data were assessed using chi-square test, t test and ANOVA test on SPSS 26.0. For purposes of statistical significance, p is taken as <0,05. Findings: The total MET hour/week values for females participated in this study were calculated as 218 ± 54.49, and total MET hour/week values of men were calculated as 218.67. In this study, PAR values of women were calculated as 1.627 ± 0.309 and the mean of men as 1.624 ± 0.307. 63.5% of the students participating in this study are extremely inactive and 25.6% are in the low activity category. The rate of students who can reach sufficient physical activity level is 10.9%. There was no significant difference between the PAR values according to the grade types. Students who stated that their income was higher than their expenses obtained higher scores (p <0.001). It was observed that students whose parents were university graduates received higher grades in Science and Mathematics-Social Sciences grade types (p <0.001). It was observed that students who stated that they felt competent in Science and Mathematics-Social Sciences grade types got higher grades than other students (p <0.001). In the analysis of the data, it was seen that motivation was associated with higher grades in Language (p = 0.018), compared to Science (p <0.001) and Mathematics-Social Sciences(p <0.001) grade types. 48.1% of the students stated that they could not eat regularly, 46% did not sleep enough, and 53.5% stated that the exam preparation process caused physical inactivity. Conclusion: This study finds no significant relationship between physical activity level and university exam success. Although the study reveals no positive relationship unlike what the literature on the subject suggests, there is also no negative relationship contrary to the concerns expressed by students and parents alike. As a result of this study, it was found that students' general physical activity levels were lower than both the general population and the child-adolescent age group. Based on the findings which this study discloses, the best suggestion one could give is that students increase their physical activity.